Network Execs Take Potshots at Netflix Before Emmys Showdown

Netflix will try to break the TV industry’s stranglehold on Emmy Awards this Sunday, and if you think the networks are happy about the red envelope’s success — think again.

During two different panels at a USC tech conference on Wednesday, network executives downplayed Netflix’s disruption of the television industry. First up was ABC exec VP Albert Cheng, who said that Netflix’s impact is restricted to a specific kind of show — those on HBO or AMC.

“What Netflix has done is specific to serial episodics,” Cheng told moderator David Cohen at the university’s Silicon Beach conference. He argued that while Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are taking risks on shows like “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black,” it will not be making the next hit procedural or reality program.

Fox’s Hardie Tankersley echoed Cheng when he took the stage, and this time he got to address his skepticism directly to former Netflix executive David Watson, who was on the panel with him.

Netflix, Amazon and Hulu often assert that their reliance on data gives them a leg up in identifying which shows will succeed. Tankersley dismissed any suggestion of a “special sauce” for predicting shows, reminding the crowd Netflix never gives notes to its showrunners.

Fox’s VP of digital product is an avowed contrarian, so perhaps he was merely rising to the occasion. Yet the friction between Tankersley and Watson was palpable.

When Watson listed Netflix’s first slate of shows and omitted the widely panned “Lilyhammer,” Tankersely jumped in to remind Watson.

“‘Lilyhammer’ was made for someone else,” Watson retorted. “We opportunistically took it based on existing intellectual property. We find the best in the business. We’re not looking to make the new ‘Lost.'”

Watson then shot back across the bow, questioning the network pilot process and Netflix prefers to bet on one show instead of making shows “with bad comedians.”

“We don’t make shows with bad comedians,” Tankersely said. “You may think they’re bad, but they have a following. We’re not pulling people out of the garage. Have you heard of Andy Samberg?”